Teva Pharmaceutical Considering Bid for Mylan
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. is considering a takeover bid for drug maker Mylan NV, according to people familiar with the matter, a sign of the jockeying for dominance among generic drug makers.
The Israeli generic drug maker hasn’t yet decided whether to make an offer, the people said.
Last week Mylan made an unsolicited $28.9 billion proposal to buy Ireland-based Perrigo Co., and a Teva bid would represent an effort to disrupt that.
Mylan said in a statement that it is committed to the Perrigo deal.
“We have studied the potential combination of Mylan and Teva for some time, and we believe it is clear that such a combination is without sound industrial logic or cultural fit,” Mylan said. “Further, there would be significant overlap in the companies’ businesses, and we believe that it is unlikely that any such combination could obtain antitrust regulatory clearances.”
A Mylan deal would be a big bite for Teva, as Mylan’s market capitalization is roughly half of Teva’s $66 billion market capitalization.
Shares of both companies rose Friday after The Wall Street Journal reported on Teva’s deliberations. Mylan’s share price added 4.4% to $69.76, while Teva’s gained 1.7% to $64.41. Perrigo shares, meanwhile, dropped 0.8% to $197.46.
Teva has largely remained on the sidelines of a frenzied deal market in the health-care space, but it has indicated in recent months it has an appetite for entering the fray.
A tie-up would create a generic drug giant, which could use the combination to cut costs and cope with rising competition. Ruminating about a Teva-Mylan combination, J.P. Morgan has estimated such a deal could lead to more than $1 billion in annual cost savings.
wsj.com
